Being lactose intolerant myself I'm also surpised by how popular it seems to be in countries where well over half the population can't digest it properly. It's actually only Northern Europe and the US (due to immigration from NE quite likely) that has adult popluation where most people can drink milk going by the statistics.

Another thing is how healthy milk has made out to be which keeps it popular and makes people drink it into adulthood which in turn may help maintain the ability to digest it (campaigns like "Got MILK"). Milk is actually NOT that healthy. Yes, it has vitamins and calcium, but you can easily get more than enough of that from other food sources. With milk you're getting lots of sugar and one of the most unhealthy types of fat there is.

If you're going to drink it for health benefits you better make sure it's skimmed at the very least.

There have been research studies done that show that Asians have the highest rates of occurrence of lactose intolerance. I'm 1/2 chinese and 1/4 japanese, and am indeed lactose intolerant. my brother is very VERY lactose intolerant. you don't want to be anywhere near him if any sort of dairy is consumed.

mmm.... milk... I drink less than when I was growing up, but between my brother and I, we would buy a gallon of milk every day. Granted, that probably helped lead to my stature, but oh well. There's perks to being a giant. xD

::looks at glass of milk next to me:: Meh, still tasty, though as some people posted, it's better to go skim or a low % at least. 2 % for me, thank you. I shall continue to enjoy it, as well as cheese and yogurt.

Asian, Native Americans, and people of African descent are more likely to be lactose intolerant. I think people from the Mediterranean are too. I'm lactose intolerant and avoid dairy. I will take Digestive Supplements sometimes when I want to have something with dairy. But I tend to do this only when I'm home..don't want any embarrassing moments in public.